Field of the Invention
The invention relates to accessory items for inclusion with portable ice chest coolers as a person will carry with them in the wilderness, to a sporting event, or in a vehicle, where ice is poured into the cooler to keep items, such as drinks, cold and to chill food items, such as sandwiches, cheese, and the like. With the accessory item for maintaining such food items above the ice and water level, protecting them from water contamination.
Prior Art
Heretofore, where an owner has wished to carry both drinks and food items in their ice chest for a distance, or over time, they have attempted to separate such food items as by placing non-food items, such as trays, dishes or the like above the ice level with such food items there above, or have packed the food items in separate containers, or the like. In practice, where the chest has been exposed to movement during travel, as the ice melts, water has sloshed over the food items, making them undesirable for consumption. The invention, to protect such food items, employs an elastic net arrangement that is fixed to the undersurface of the ice chest lid, apart from the level of ice and water within the chest, for carrying the perishable food items above and away from the melting ice while still keeping those food items cool and dry. Additionally, recognizing that the ice chest, in a normal course of use, could fall onto its side or be dropped and cause water to splash onto the elastic net and onto the food items therein, the invention further includes a splash guard that is easily releasably installed to cover over the elastic net as a barrier to water reaching the food items. Which splash guard, by utilizing attachment points that are at spaced internals around the splash guard perimeter, such that, any water as reaches the food items, such water will travel out from between which attachment points and back into the water and ice mixture when the ice chest is righted.